Heartbeat
by Jem.Rainbow
Summary: They were crazy, stupid, sixteen, and in love. Maria should've run with all she had. He would change everything. But she didn't run. Because he showed her what a heartbeat felt like.


**Hello, my lovelies! I am so sorry that I've been AWOL. I needed rest, and then life got hectic as hell. I'm sick, though, and I'm putting my suffering to good use. So, here's a random little story, because I need to write something.**

 **Warning: Although most of this is fluff, I did cry making parts of it. So, heads up.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Every Witch Way.**

 **Nor do I exist. (Lol, I am)**

* * *

They were crazy.

Crazy, stupid, sixteen, and in love.

Maria knew they were breaking every rule. The realm was extremely strict, and it was abundantly clear that she was _not_ to date a human boy. Even more so, she was definitely not allowed to date a motorcycle riding, class skipping, bad boy.

But when he kissed her, she couldn't care less about right and wrong.

"Why me?" He asked her one night, well after her curfew, while they drank a liquid he wouldn't identify as they sat on a cliffside. "Out of all the good guys out there. All the good _wizards_ out there, why would you pick me? All I've ever done that was good was understand math."

She smiled, a giddy but sincere grin, and kissed him. "Because you are wrong. You did do something good."

He frowned in confusion.

"You showed me what a heartbeat feels like."

* * *

He was turning seventeen.

She talked on the phone to Desdemona while she wrapped his gift, using her shoulder to keep the phone up to her ear. The blasted cord wasn't stretching as far as she liked, so she sat in an awkward position.

"You must be insane, Maria. If the Witch's Council learns that you are lying to them about where you are going, you will lose your powers! How can he possibly be worth this?"

Maria chuckled. Desdemona didn't understand love. The senior hadn't ever so much as had a crush. Magic was Desdemona's love, and she expected it to be Maria's, as well.

"Love may be insanity. But if that's the case, then I don't want to be sane."

Maria put down the phone to hang up before Desdemona could answer.

She peeked down at her promise ring with a grin. The engraving on the inside was permanently etched into her mind.

 _My forever is you. My heart is yours._

And hers was his.

She placed the last piece of tape on the paper, the scrapbook now entirely covered.

With that, she slipped out of her bedroom, away to his house.

* * *

Francisco Alonso was valedictorian.

No, it wasn't a joke. The student who had gone through three fourths of his high school career barely passing his classes, was valedictorian. It was all thanks to Maria Castillo, the girl who changed his life.

"I wish I could take the credit for this accomplishment." He said toward the end of his speech. "But that would simply be wrong. I owe this all to own woman, who walked into my life and gave me the kick in the ass I needed to change." He smiled at her. "Maria. I couldn't have done this without you. _You_ showed me what a heartbeat feels like."

She had to reapply her mascara after that.

* * *

November 21st, 1995 marked their fourth anniversary.

Twenty-year-old Maria peeked down at the black box in her hand, that contained a silver wedding band. She must've been insane. No woman she had ever met was the one to ask her boyfriend to marry her. It had always been the other way around. _Always._

But screw the rules. Four years was long enough. He had her heart years ago.

When they reached the cliffside, the place they'd named their official "spot," at exactly 10:43 at night, they both blurted that there was some thing they had to ask the other.

"You go first." Maria prompted, still nervous. What if he turned her down? It was very untraditional, and he had always been at least slightly traditional when it came to this sort of thing.

"No, no. After you. Ladies first." He nodded, hands in his leather jacket. She cursed his manners for a moment.

"What if we both do it at once?"

"Okay. Let's."

They both grabbed their boxes, preparing to pull them out.

"One." He said.

"Two." She nervously added.

"Three."

They spilled it out in unison. "Will you marry me?"

* * *

She gave up her powers a week before, and Francisco felt really guilty about it.

"Babe. Don't blame yourself. I love you. They forced me to make a choice between you and a ridiculous title I never even wanted. I'm going to marry you, because that is what I want. Because anyone on Earth will choose what keeps their heart beating over a meaningless birth lottery." She sat on his lap. He sighed with a smile.

"I know, but..."

"Uh uh." She kissed him. "No buts. Butts are gross."

He laughed. "Okay. Really though... you're not going to miss them?"

Her answer was a kiss. "Barely noticed they're gone." She mumbled against his mouth.

* * *

They named their daughter Emma Maria Alonso.

The deal was Maria could pick the first, but only if Francisco could pick the second. When he suggested the name, it had lead to some protest.

"Why would you ever want Emma to share a name with me?" She laughed, a hand moving across her pregnant belly. Her husband chuckled, and kissed her forehead, feeling for her beating heart with his hand.

"Why wouldn't I want my princess to share a name with my queen?"

* * *

She went into labor three months early when she was carrying their son.

Emma was staying with her grandmother for the night. It was the night of their wedding anniversary. Her water broke in the middle of the restaurant.

Maria clutched his hand tightly, pretending not to hear the nurse and the doctor mumble about her losing too much blood.

"I love you three so much." She whimpered, knowing that when she tried to grip his hand harder it was still not as hard as she had hours prior, when this started.

"I love you more. I always will. You're going to be fine." It was insistent, just like the first time he told her she liked him. He would be damned if she was going to die so soon.

David Ryland Alonso was stillborn at 12:03 am on June 11th, 2002.

At 12:08, a sobbing Maria's heart stopped beating.

* * *

The first thing he did when he managed to let go of her hand and stop crying was call Desdemona and order Emma's memory be altered. His little girl couldn't lose her brother and her mom in the same day, when she'd been so perfectly healthy. It'd destroy her whole heart, forever.

Desdemona offered to help him, as well. Her sister had lost a child, and she understood that grief.

Francisco told her he'd be damned if he would choose to forget his son, and what happened to his wife. It hurt, but pretending it didn't happen would've gotten his head smacked.

* * *

He reminded him of himself at seventeen. Wild, crazy, reckless, convinced he was invincible.

But when the cameras stopped rolling, and he thought he was completely alone with his daughter(frankly, even times when he knew her dad was there in the same room) Jax Novoa was sappy as maple syrup and treated Emma like a queen.

Francisco saw a lot of Maria in Emma, as well as quite a bit of himself in Jax. When the pair were together, however, it was like winding the clock twenty years back. Jax's hands were always either holding hers, around her waist, or on her knee. (He didn't dare think about doing anything remotely sexual when he thought her dad was within about a hundred miles)

He was always telling her he loved her, after her birthday- which was also their six-month anniversary- and in the way that grown ups tell their husbands or wives they love them. This wasn't puppy love. Jax Novoa had Emma's heart.

However, Francisco knew from personal experience that Emma had his in a cage, he was wrapped around her little finger, and his heart was on his sleeve in her presence. He liked to believe he had control, but both he and Jax knew the truth. As much as Emma wanted to love him most (probably because she was so competitive, and so hell bent on reminding Jax every day that her heart most likely wouldn't even beat properly without him) he'd always love her more. She made him better just by being herself.

She was Maria, in every way.

And he didn't quite mind the idea of giving his baby away to this boy. He'd take him over a human that cared far less, any day. *cough* Mr. Miller *cough*

* * *

 _April 19th, 2018_

Emma was getting married.

Francisco had been sort of dreading it, from seven months ago when Jax came to him for his blessing. Emma was his baby, who it seemed like yesterday was curling up with him to hide from a thunderstorm. Now, someone else was cuddling away her fear.

But, he couldn't be happier that it was Jax. Though, if he was honest, he didn't like the idea of his daughter getting married when she'd _just_ turned nineteen four weeks ago.

"Attention, everyone." Emma stood to give her speech, awkwardly using a spoon to tap her glass. She took a deep breath.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming here, today. It really means a lot to me that all my friends and family are here to be happy with me, no matter how insane they claim I am." She looked right at Andi. Everyone laughed.

"A few years back, my whole damn world got spun upside down and tossed me into the arms of this guy." She patted Jax on the shoulder. "And everything, well, changed."

"You know, when I was a kid my mom would tell me this story of a princess and a thief, who turned to a prince by the end. I loved that story, because it's the story of my parents. Except instead of stealing a necklace, my dad stole my mom's heart, corny as it sounds." More laughter rung out, along with "aww"s. Emma smiled through tears that were slowly forming.

"I remember asking her once, about something some older kids said to me on the playground. They'd told me that lightning never strikes the same tree twice, and if my mom fell in love, real love, I never would. She laughed and told me I had never asked anything that ridiculous in my life. This is where I learned that love is not easy. There were ups and downs little baby me didn't know about. My parents fought a lot more than just their own to be together."

A quick look at her father made Emma's heart melt. He looked to be on the verge of crying. He was thinking of Maria, and when he heard this same exchange, with Emma. It was hard to believe over fifteen years had passed.

"My parents always taught me to believe in love. Take a chance, don't have regrets, ignore what everyone else says because at best it's as good as it feels and at worst you learn from it. My mom always told me, "All love starts out as coal. But if you're stubborn, and you fight, you can get a diamond out of it." I was fifteen when I realized she didn't mean a literal ring." More laughter.

Francisco thought back to all these times when Emma had learned something from her mom. With a start, it hit him that in her three years with Emma, she had passed on more life lessons than he had in his nineteen.

That was fine. Maria was the wise one, anyway. Math may be the building block of civilization, but she knew how to follow her heart and enjoy the gift of experiencing life. Emma learned to love from her mother.

"But, that just made it better. Because I know now, after nearly killing him many times, that I have what my parents did, with Jax. And it's still going to be a hell of a lot of work. But I'm up for it. Because in love really is the best kind of alive."

Every moment she shared with Jax was flashing through her mind. They fought like hell and loved like heaven, and more than just once had they broken up. But they always went back to each other, because when push came to shove, either of them would be even crazier without the other. They were each other's heartbeat.

"I know if she were here right now, mom would be so proud of me, daddy." Her voice broke. "And thank you for still telling me every story, when she couldn't. Thanks for talking reason into me and keeping me from giving up. Most of all." She took a deep breath. "Thank you for continuing to believe in love, so I would."

Francisco said nothing. Not a word.

He just crossed the table and hugged her.

"You're welcome, baby. And she'd be beyond proud. You are everything we ever could've hoped for."

When he went to sleep that night, Francisco thanked the god he didn't believe in for keeping his daughter from losing hope with her mother. He also talked out loud, to himself, as if Maria could hear.

"You keep our baby boy safe for me, my love. It's only fair, since I protected Emma. And... Tell the big guy if he's up there, thanks for sending someone to show Emma what a heartbeat feels like."

* * *

 **Oh my god, I am sobbing. Full on ugly sobbing about this. It's one in the morning. I should be sleeping. I'm not sleeping.**

 **Hope you enjoyed. I figured a tale like this earns its one one-shot.**


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